Chasing the Night (5 page)

“You don’t seem upset.”

“No, I look forward to it.” He suddenly smiled. “It’s been going on too long. I’m growing bored. She needs to bleed a little.”

“You’re going to go after her?”

“Or let her come after me.” He gazed at the framed photo of Catherine Ling he had on his desk. In all the years since he had taken her son, he had never put that photo away. It had served to remind him that he was the one in control, and she was only a victim to be punished. The bitch had almost taken him down. If he hadn’t scrambled desperately to right his empire, he’d have been back in the sewer where he’d been born. “Beautiful, isn’t she? If you can call a demon beautiful. I think it’s time I brought her closer.”

“Not a good idea,” Russo said. “She’s CIA. It’s not safe. As long as you kept her at a distance, there was—”

“I wouldn’t be where I am if I worried about safety,” Rakovac interrupted. “You have to take chances to become what you’re destined to be. You’ve always cringed at the bottom of the ladder, afraid to climb. That’s why you answer to me.”

Russo flushed. “And if you didn’t have men like me propping up your ladder, you’d be crashing down on your ass. I’ve never seen why you snatched the kid. He’s always been a threat to all of us. She’s always been a threat.”

Russo had surprised him. He didn’t often lose his temper with him. “No, Catherine Ling ceased to be a threat when I took her son.”

“It’s gone on too long. You should have killed her instead of stretching out this idiocy. There’s always the chance that the CIA will take action.”

“Not as long as I give them what they want.” He grimaced. “Or that they think that I’m doing it. It’s merely a question of striking a balance.”

“And how long can you do it? Venable isn’t a fool. You haven’t been spending enough time and attention on the business they’re paying you for. He’ll know that you’re up to something.”

It wasn’t the first time Russo had spoken out against Rakovac’s persecution of Catherine. Time to shut him down. “I’ll do what I have to do. Stay out of my business.” He gave him a cold glance. “You don’t understand. I don’t allow anyone to humiliate me the way Catherine Ling did. She came close to destroying me, and everyone knew it. I swore that I’d make her pay. And I’ve done it.”

“Yes,” Russo said. “But maybe it’s time to end it.” He paused. “Is the boy still alive?”

Rakovac smiled but didn’t answer.

Russo’s eyes widened. “Good God. You’ve killed him?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. Again, that’s my affair. She thinks he’s still alive.” He smiled maliciously. “Sometimes. It’s the eternal seesaw. There’s nothing more painful. I’ve made sure she’s regretted that last mission in Moscow.”

“But not enough?”

He shook his head. “Not while I can squeeze one more drop of pain from her. And after she’s too numb to give me that pleasure, I’ll take her blood.” He gazed back at the photo. “But I have to find her first. Tell Prado to probe a little and find out if Venable made any phone calls to Atlanta recently.”

Chapter
4

“I’ve scanned in Luke’s photo.” Eve looked up from her computer. “It’s good that it’s a frontal shot. It will help with the progression. But I need more than this.”

“I know. Family members. I don’t have much that you can use.” She slipped from her stool. “I’ll be right back. I left an envelope in my rental car.” She ran out of the house and down the steps. She was back in a few minutes and handed Eve a large manila envelope. “The photos are all of my husband Terry’s family. I don’t know anything about my mother’s background. I tried to trace my father, but I haven’t been able to find out anything about him. Not even his name.”

“That’s not good.”

“I tried,” she said fiercely. “I can’t help it that I was dropped into this world and everyone just walked away. It’s not my fault, and it’s not Luke’s. Work with it.”

“I will. It just makes it more difficult. What do you know about age progression?”

“Only that it’s easier if you have a battery of photos from both sides of the family. I tried to give it to you. It just wasn’t happening.”

“The reason that we like to compare the child’s photo with any available photos of family members is that there may be a resemblance to the features of a grandparent or uncle or another relative that’s stronger than to the parents. And if we had a photograph of any of them at the same age as Luke, eleven, it could help.”

“But maybe not. My husband always said Luke looked like me.”

Eve gazed at the photo of Luke on the screen. Beautiful, faintly tilted dark eyes with long eyelashes. The lips appeared close to the same shape. She couldn’t tell about the cheekbones. Luke had too much baby fat for her to be able to determine the shape.

“Well?”

“There is a strong resemblance, but we can’t be sure that it will still be noticeable at his present age. The shape of the face changes.”

“We can’t be sure of anything. But it’s something to work with.”

Eve nodded. “But this is Luke at two. When a child is born, the bones of the skull and neck are not nearly complete. The growth process doesn’t complete until a person is twenty-five or older.”

“So?”

“The proportional changes in the amount of the lower face are fundamental. Young children’s faces grow downward and forward. The forehead changes from a bulbous look to an upright and flattened appearance. The lower half of the face drifts downward and either forward or outward. The upper and lower jaws are constantly increasing in size and changing form. They become more prominent and—”

“You’re telling me all the difficulties. Can you override them?”

“I can only try.” She opened the envelope and spread the photos on the table. “Which one was your husband?”

“The man in the brown bomber jacket. He doesn’t look anything like Luke.”

“I can see that.” The man in the photo was tall, broad-shouldered, and had thinning gray hair. “He was quite a bit older than you.”

“Sixty-two, but age doesn’t matter.”

Sixty-two to Catherine’s seventeen.

“It doesn’t matter,” Catherine repeated. “Age is only a number. Venable sent me to Terry as a mentor when I first joined the CIA, and he taught me, guided me, he even saved my life once. He was very good to me. That’s the only thing that was important.”

“Your relationship is your own business. I was just surprised.”

“He was kind, we were partners, he gave me a child. Infinite riches. How could I ask for more?”

Didn’t every woman deserve a young and heady passion at least once in her life? “He has a nice face.” She went to another picture. “Who is the child?”

“Terry, at age six. The other picture is his mother, Gail. She doesn’t look like Luke either. So you may be stuck with me. I was four when that picture of me was taken in Shanghai. My mother had to furnish it for the entry papers.”

Eve picked up the photo of Catherine. It was amazingly similar to the photo on the computer screen before her. The child Catherine was thinner, her manner solemn and a little defiant, but the resemblance was unmistakable.

“Will it help?” Catherine asked.

“Yes, I think it will. I don’t know how much.” She bent forward and began to run feature programs on the photo of Luke before her. “Let me go to work.”

“I won’t bother you.” Catherine was once more gazing down at Cindy’s bones. “If I can do anything more to—”

“I’ll let you know.” Eve was staring at the lower part of Luke’s face. Such an enchanting child, full of life and mischief. Some of the magic of early childhood would fade when she added years to his picture.

Catherine had missed that magic, she thought suddenly. How she must have loved this child. She would have regretted every year that passed and cheated her of those beloved changes. Eve had had Bonnie for seven years, and she had memories of every single one. Catherine had nothing past that second birthday.

Time to get to work.

Eleven. She had to clear her mind of that wonderfully engaging two-year-old and think eleven…

It was close to five when Joe walked into the cottage. Eve had called him back and explained briefly what had occurred since he had left, and he had been royally pissed. Now she took one look at his expression and murmured to Catherine, “You said you were ready to face responsibility for your actions? Here it comes.”

Catherine sat up straighter on her stool, her gaze on Joe Quinn. “Will it upset you? I can handle him alone.”

“Indeed?” Joe asked silkily.

“It won’t upset me,” Eve said. “It will interest me.”

Catherine slipped from the stool and moved across the room to stand before Joe. “You’re angry. I had to do it, you know. I had to get Eve alone to talk to her. You had to be removed.”

“You’re damn right I’m angry. You interfered with my life and my job. You broke into my home. You somehow managed to brainwash Eve into doing your job. Get the hell out of here.”

“If that’s what you want. But Eve is going to help me. We both know she always keeps her word. And I’m helping her, too. It will be easier for her if I stay here until it’s done.” She moistened her lips. “It won’t be long. Eve says that two or three days, and she’ll have the progression completed. I won’t get in your way. I’ve brought a tent and sleeping bag. I’ll camp out in the woods until she’s finished. The minute she stops for the day, I’m out of your house and won’t come back until the morning.”

He stared at her without speaking.

“I’ve heard that she cares about you. She’s stayed with you a long time, so that must be true. I always knew that you could be the one who would get in my way. You might be able to persuade her to not help me.” She looked him in the eye. “But I don’t think you will. She hasn’t had any luck finding her own child. She has a chance to help find mine. That would have to make her feel a sort of healing. I’d think that you’d want that.” Her voice lowered. “I don’t care how you feel about me. Yes, I’m selfish and self-serving, but I’m not hurting her. Just let me stay for a little while.”

Joe didn’t speak for a moment, and his gaze never left Catherine’s face. “Eve?”

“Her son was only two when he was ripped away from her. He deserves to come home.” She paused. “And he could be alive, Joe. Maybe for once the bad guy hasn’t triumphed. She’s right, I need this.”

Joe muttered a curse and turned on his heel. “Okay, you’ve got it. Just don’t let her pull you into anything else.” He headed for the bedroom. “And you will sleep in your tent and stay out of my hair, Catherine. I won’t have you insinuating your way into my house. Once the progression is over, you’re out.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Once I know what my son looks like, I’ll be out of here and on the hunt.” She turned back to the worktable. “Thank you, Detective Quinn.”

Her only answer was the slamming of the bedroom door.

“When he cools down, I could ask him to let you sleep on the couch,” Eve offered.

Catherine shook her head. “I’m lucky that he’s being as generous as he is. I won’t push my luck.” She sat back down on her stool. “I’ve found three pieces that I think fit together.” She picked up a tiny sliver of bone. “And I believe this one may be part of the nasal area….” She looked up at Eve across the table. “Is it too early for me to ask how you’re doing on the progression?”

“Much too early.”

“May I ask about the procedure?”

Eve shrugged. “I work differently from most other forensic artists. Particularly when children are involved. I can’t just dive in and combine all the changes that happen year by year and go to the final product. I have to do a complete progression at several growth stages and gradually build them to the present age. It’s more work, and Venable’s techs would probably say it’s unnecessary. But maybe it’s because I’m not as experienced as they are. It’s necessary for me.” She met Catherine’s gaze. “So if you have any objections, voice them now, and we’ll stop.”

“No objections. Only one request.”

“What request?”

“Will you save every stage progression you do of Luke for me?” She tried to smile, but her lips were trembling. “I want to see how he grew, how he changed. It will be like having a collection of school photos of him.” Her smile faded. “School photos. Such an ordinary thing. It wouldn’t have been ordinary to me, Eve.”

“No, I can see it wouldn’t,” Eve said gently. “I’ll save them and print them out for you. I won’t be doing every year, but you’ll be able to grasp the changes.”

“Thank you.” She looked down at the bones again. “I was just curious. I’ll let you work now.”

Curious and desperately reaching out for memories of which she’d been cheated, Eve thought.

Catherine changed the subject. “You know, this Cindy puzzle is every bit as difficult as I thought it was going to be.” She grimaced as she looked back at the skull on her screen. “And I don’t think it would help if I’d worked with skulls and bones for years as you have. It’s just hit-or-miss.”

Eve nodded. “Which is why I agreed to let you try your luck. You have the same determination and motivation that I have. It’s not based on the same foundation, but the result could be identical. I hope it will be.”

Catherine was frowning, her tongue touching her upper lip as she tried another fragment of bone. “I hope so, too…”

Eve knew that Joe was not asleep when she took off her terry robe and slipped into bed.

“It’s almost two in the morning,” he said gruffly. “She’s a demanding bitch, isn’t she?”

“You know better than that.” She cuddled closer to him. She loved the feel of him. Everything about Joe was warm and strong and hard. “No one pushes me but me. I wanted to get through the first transition to age three.”

“Did you do it?”

“Yes. Actually, it was easier for me than for Catherine. She’s going to have severe eyestrain from working on Cindy tonight. But she managed to get the shards of the upper-right cheekbone in place.”

“I can’t say I feel sorry for her.”

“I know. I don’t blame you. What she did was arrogant and done with all the finesse of a bulldozer.”

“I won’t say she was without finesse. It takes a certain amount of cleverness to be able to manage all the details of pulling the right strings at the precinct not only to set up a false crime scene, but arrange for me specifically to be called in for it.”

“She’s experienced. After all, she’s CIA.”

“And if there weren’t a kid involved, you’d have kicked her out.”

“Yes. I found I couldn’t do it.”

“Because she made you bleed, then gave you a bandage of hope to soothe the wound. I told you she was clever.” He pulled her closer. “But there wasn’t any way I could take that hope away from either of you. That’s why I didn’t toss her ass in the lake.” His lips brushed her temple. “But it’s still an option I’m leaving open.”

“Me, too.” But that option was gradually fading into the shadows the more she worked with Catherine Ling. “But I think she’d swim to the surface and be back on our porch an hour later. She’s going to do anything she has to do to get her son back.” She whispered, “I have to help her, Joe. I’ll show you the photo of Luke tomorrow. I’ve never seen a sweeter, more beautiful child. So full of life. The more I work on the progression, the closer I feel to him.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

She knew what he meant. It was a valid concern. She had told Catherine that she would only do the progression, and then go back to her own work. But she was being pulled deeper into Catherine’s emotions, Catherine’s obsession.

“She only asked me to show her what Luke looks like now. That’s not so much.”

“And I’ll be right here to make sure that she doesn’t try to persuade you to do anything else.” He kissed her hard. “Don’t close me away from you. I felt like an outsider when I came in tonight and saw the two of you working together. I could almost see the bond that was meshing, forming between you. I was jealous. And it scared the hell out of me. Because I can’t fight it. I haven’t lost a child. I can sympathize, but not empathize. I’m already working my way through your feelings for Bonnie. I’m not ready to deal with another lost child, whether he’s dead or alive.”

“I’m not asking you to deal with Luke.”

“No, but it will happen if you become involved. I can’t do anything else. After all these years, you should know that by now.”

Yes, she knew it. They had been together since the week that her Bonnie was kidnapped, and he had been her salvation, pushing back the darkness. Since that nightmare period, they’d had a relationship as stormy as it was loving. At times she hadn’t been sure it would survive. “Joe, if you—”

He kissed her again, smothering the words she had been about to speak. “No, I don’t want to argue. I’ve had my say. I just want you to know how I feel.”

“Duly noted.” Her hands slid around him, and her nails bit teasingly into the back of his neck. “I like the way you feel. Emotionally…” She ran her tongue over his lower lip. “Physically.” She pushed him over and climbed on top of him. “Sexually. Oh, yes, most definitely sexually.”

He inhaled sharply as her hands moved over him. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Hell, yes. You’re being too intense. I’m dealing with enough intensity. Am I succeeding?”